Llancarfan - Medieval Church - Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
N 51° 25.367 W 003° 21.967
30U E 474543 N 5696905
The church of St. Cadoc, features several stunning medieval, 500 years old wall paintings. The Church at Llancarfan is the focus of this small and charming village in the heart of Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMJX23
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/09/2014
Views: 3
St. Cadoc's Medieval Church is open daily to visitors during daylight hours.
The Church is said to be the site of the most exciting discovery of British Medieval wall paintings of the 21st Century.
"Built on the site of a 7th century monastery and founded around 1200, St Cadoc's in Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan is, from the outside, just another beautiful small Welsh village church.
But inside, conservators have uncovered some stunning 15th century wall paintings to the delight of locals, visitors and experts alike.
After the discovery of a thin red line of paint on the wall, a team of experts were brought in to investigate what else was lurking behind the 20 layers of limewash added over five centuries.
Now, after five years of restoration work, the church is revealing its treasures: startlingly bold images of the seven deadly sins, a royal family, a ghoulish death figure - and what has been described as one of the largest and most spectacular tableaux of St George and the Dragon ever seen in a British church." Text source: (
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"The Vale of Glamorgan was an important centre of Christianity in Britain. There was a monastery here from at least 650 AD, founded by St. Cadoc or Cadog. By the 9th century Llancarfan was a flourishing centre of learning, with the main monastic buildings just south of today's church, in Culvery Fields.
Despite destruction by the Danes, Llancarfan monastery proved 'the most powerful ecclesiastical community in Glamorgan'. It did not, however, survive the Norman invasion, and after this early dissolution, responsibility passed to the Abbey of St. Peter's, Gloucester. St. Cadoc retained his presence in the parish church, where our simple chancel arch suggests a foundation of about 1200.
The next 800 years have seen our distinctively-shaped church serving its community, and surviving the traumas of reformation and restoration. A Baptist and a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel nearby have come and gone, but St. Cadoc's continues to refocus its role across the parish, reaching out to share its cultural and spiritual relevance to visitors, villagers, and all who treasure the heritage that shaped our history." Text Source: (
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A U Tube/BBC link about the discovery: (
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News Update 26 Dec 2013:
"Over the last six years, renowned conservators Ann Ballantyne and Jane Rutherfoord have revealed a number of highly-significant schemes, including Death and the Gallant, St George and the Dragon, and the Seven Deadly Sins." Text Source: (
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